CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dodged an apparent assassination attempt when drones armed with explosives detonated while he was delivering a speech to hundreds of soldiers being broadcast live on television, officials said.

Caught by surprise mid-speech, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, looked up at the sky and winced Saturday after hearing the sound of an explosion pierce the air.

"This was an attempt to kill me," he said later in an impassioned retelling of the events. "Today they attempted to assassinate me."

Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the incident took place shortly after 5:30 p.m. as Maduro was celebrating the National Guard's 81st anniversary. The visibly shaken head of state said he saw a "flying device" that exploded before his eyes. He thought it might be a pyrotechnics display in honor of the event.

Within seconds, Maduro said he heard a second explosion and pandemonium ensued. Bodyguards escorted Maduro out of the event and television footage showed uniformed soldiers standing in formation quickly scattering from the scene.

He said the "far right" working in coordination with detractors in Bogota and Miami, including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, were responsible. Some of the "material authors" of the apparent attack have been detained.

"The investigation will get to the bottom of this," he said. "No matter who falls."

Venezuela's government routinely accuses opposition activists of plotting to attack and overthrow Maduro, a deeply unpopular leader who was recently elected to a new term in office in a vote decried by dozens of nations. Maduro has steadily moved to concentrate power as the nation reels from a crippling economic crisis.

In the midst of near-daily protests last year, a rogue police officer flew a stolen helicopter over the capital and launched grenades at several government buildings. Oscar Perez was later killed in a deadly gun battle after over six months on the lam.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the attempted assassination targeted not only Maduro, but rather the military's entire high command on stage with the president.

Prosecutors have already launched their investigation and obtained critical details from the suspects in custody, said Saab, adding that he would give more details Monday.

"We are in the midst of a wave of civil war in Venezuela," Saab said.

Firefighters at the scene of the blast disputed the government's version of events. Three local authorities said there had been a gas tank explosion inside an apartment near Maduro's speech where smoke could be seen streaming out of a window. They provided no further details on how they had reached that conclusion.

A Colombian official with the president's office described Maduro's claims that Santos was involved in the attack as baseless.

Adding to the confusion, a little known group calling itself Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility, saying it planned to fly two drones loaded with explosives at the president, but government soldiers shot them down before reaching its target. The Associated Press could not independently verify the authenticity of the message.

"We showed that they are vulnerable," the group said in a tweet. "It was not successful today, but it is just a matter of time."

The organization did not respond to a message from The Associated Press.

David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America who has spent decades researching Venezuela, said the incident did not appear to be a staged attack by Maduro's government for political gain.

The "amateurish" attack prompted embarrassing images of Maduro cut off mid-sentence with droves of soldiers running away in fear, making the president appear vulnerable, Smilde noted. Despite the optics, Smilde said he suspected that Maduro would nonetheless find a way to take advantage of it.

"He will use it to concentrate power," Smilde said. "Whoever did this, he'll use it to further restrict liberty and purge the government and armed forces."

The event had been just one more of many Maduro routinely holds with members of the military, a key faction of Venezuelan society whose loyalty he has clung to as the nation struggles with crippling hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine.

"We are going to bet for the good of our country," Maduro declared triumphantly moments before the explosion. "The hour of the economy recovery has come."

Images being shared on social media showed officers surrounding Maduro with what appeared to be a black bullet-proof barrier as they escorted him from the site. Maduro said at no point did he panic, confident the military would protect him.

"That drone came after me," he said. "But there was a shield of love that always protects us. I'm sure I'll live for many more years."_________________--
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.comhttp://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."

Bolton suggested that the Maduro government could be behind the explosion, citing widespread corruption and oppression in Venezuela.

“It could be a lot of things from a pretext set up by the Maduro regime itself to something else,” Bolton said, adding that there were no Americans injured in the blast.

“If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we will take a serious look at it,” he added.

Maduro often blames the United States, which has imposed sanctions against officials in his government, of “conspiracy” and blamed U.S. politicians of fomenting plans to topple him to end nearly two decades of socialism in Venezuela.

A little known group called the “National Movement of Soldiers in T-shirts” claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. Maduro was not hurt during the explosion.

Venezuela is suffering under the fifth year of a severe economic crisis that has sparked malnutrition and hyperinflation, which has caused tens of thousands of people to flee across the border into Colombia and Brazil.

Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Phil Berlowitz_________________--
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.comhttp://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."

Venezuela asks Interpol to arrest opposition figure Julio Borges
The Constituent Assembly has revoked the immunity of Julio Borges
Venezuela has requested Interpol to arrest an opposition politician who is currently in neighbouring Colombia and accused of involvement in an apparent attack against President Nicolas Maduro.

"We are seeking code red for Mr Julio Borges," Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on Friday, referring to the former speaker of the National Assembly.

The request for an Interpol red notice - calling for police in another country to locate and provisionally arrest a suspect wanted in another - follows what Venezuelan officials said was a drone assassination attempt on Maduro.

A drone loaded with explosives on Saturday detonated near a military event where Maduro was giving a speech. The president escaped unharmed but seven people were wounded.

Authorities say they have detained 10 suspects whom they accuse of involvement with support from Colombia and from unidentified figures in the United States.

One of those detained is opposition lawmaker Juan Requesens, who was seized by intelligence officers at his home this week.

"The ex-deputy Requesens and Borges were directly involved in the planning and execution as accomplices and as the masterminds," Rodriguez charged. He called both men "cowards."

On Thursday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said his country had officially requested Colombia to extradite five people suspected for the involvement in the attack.

However, Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said Bogota has not received yet Venezuela's request to extradite the suspected people.

"As of this morning, there was no formal request. I do not know whether it will be received today. But if we receive the request, we will analyse it," Holmes Trujillo said at a press conference on Friday.

Stripped of immunity
Meanwhile, Venezuela's pro-Maduro Constituent Assembly revoked Borges and Requesens of their parliamentary immunity so they can be put on trial.

Borges and other government critics accuse Maduro of using the drone incident to step up repression and persecution of the opposition.

The European Union has called for a "comprehensive and transparent investigation" of the incident while rejecting violence in Venezuela.

Maduro announced he would request the extradition of at least five people implicated in an assassination attempt currently living in the United States or Colombia.

August 08th, 2018
By teleSUR
Venezuela’s Bolivarian Service for National Intelligence (Sebin) detained legislator Juan Requesens Tuesday after evidence was found linking him to the failed assassination attempt against President Nicolas Maduro last week.

He was linked to the failed attempt by retired military officer Juan Carlos Monasterios, alias Bons, who was also involved in the plot that flew explosive drones over Avenida Bolivar in Caracas.

Monasterios revealed that Requesens was in charge of establishing the contacts in Colombia to host and train a group of young Venezuelans who are members of the Venezuelan opposition.

Monasterios also participated in the attack on the Frente Paramacay on August 6, 2017, and trained a group of Venezuelans in Colombia that same year.

Requesens is a member of the opposition party Primero Justicia or First Justice. Diosdado Cabello, president of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, announced they would start proceeding to revoke parliamentary immunity for those legislators involved in the assassination attempt; the first step to begin a trial.

In a public statement, Tuesday president Maduro announced he would use the country’s international accords to request the extradition of at least five people, including a former colonel, who has been implicated in the “terror attack” and is currently living in the United States or Colombia.

Maduro also alleged the former president of Venezuela’s National Assembly Julio Borges was involved in the attack. “All the statements (of the six people detained) point to Julio Borges, who lives in a mansion in Bogota protected by the outgoing government of Colombia,” Maduro said.

A former police chief, Salvatore Lucchese, who is also in Bogota, also claimed to have played a role in the attack and warned of others in a televised interview. “We had an objective, and at the moment we were not able to materialize it 100 percent… The armed struggle will continue,” he said.

Top Photo | President of Venezuelan parliament Julio Borges leaves after receiving the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, an award given to Venezuela’s opposition, in Strasbourg, eastern France. On Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, Borges, one of the country’s most prominent opposition leaders, was detained for his role in an assassination attempt using drones. Jean-Francois Badias | AP_________________--
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.comhttp://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."

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